Cucumber lemonade
Cucumber Lemonade
My neighbor brought me over a bunch of homegrown, organic tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini today and I knew right away I was going to make cucumber lemonade. I’d seen this on a blog called Crying Onions and it sounded refreshing and was something I’d never even imagined. But why not? I’ve made enough lemonades this summer to know that you can add just about any fresh ingredient to them and they still taste great. This is no exception.
I didn’t have grenadine so I had to skip that step, otherwise I followed the recipe exactly. I think it would have added a really nice extra touch to the drink though. Even without it, I really enjoyed this. Claudia and I drank a whole pitcher of it by ourselves this afternoon. Try it and you’ll feel like you’re drinking summer.
Recipe: Cucumber Lemonade
1 large cucumber or 2 small ones, peeled and chopped
1 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 c. sugar
4 c. cold water
grenadine, optional
Make simple syrup by heating 1 c. water and 1 c. sugar in a saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and cool.
Combine lemon juice, 1 c. simple syrup, and chopped cucumber in blender. Blend until cucumber is fully pureed. Strain mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a pitcher. Add remaining 3 c. of cold water. Chill.
To serve, pour over ice in tall glasses. If desired, drizzle a little grenadine down the inside of the glass before filling it with lemonade. It’ll give you a nice layered look. (Check out the comment section for Josh’s, from Crying Onions, explanation.)
One Ordinary Day 
We actually make cucumber juice here in JA. It’s lovely and refreshing.
And I have a recipe suggestion for you! Using cucumbers—peel and dice them, cube about an equal amount of avocado, and then mix soy sauce, rice vinegar and honey to taste for the dressing. It’s dee-lish-us and super duper easy. I got it from the New York Times list of 101 easy summer salads. Did you see that? I’ve tried about 7 of them now. Some are hits, some are ok. Only one wasn’t so nice (a cucumber and grilled tofu salad with soy sauce and citrus sauce). I can send you the link. But the flavours of this cucumber avocado salad work soooo well together. Yummy.
Oh, boy……I’m not sure about this one. You’re getting crazy on me! :)
Btw, I got your email but the kids (and their sports and social lives) kept me away until late. :(
~ingrid
I’m so glad you enjoyed this!
A tip on the grenadine, in case you decide to use it at some point–if you pour it in before the lemonade, you will get a very mixed drink, because the pouring of lots of lemonade stirs everything together (which is quite tasty). If you add the grenadine after the lemonade is in the glass, and pour it down the side of the glass, it will actually settle in the bottom in a pretty distinct layer, because it’s more dense than the lemonade. Either way works well, although I’m partial to the layered look because I love the contrasting color and because it’s fun to do! A little trick I learned from a bartender.
well this is unique! it’s perfect too, since i consider lemons and cukes to be the most refreshing of all foods. :)